My name is Scott, but if you are a Costa Rican or someone who only speaks Spanish, I might tell you my name is Tino.  Many of the locals around where I live here in Costa Rica only seem to remember Scott if I tell them how famous I am for providing them with toilet paper.  Pronouncing it for them is even more complicated, so I have been going by Tino, which is a local abbreviation for my middle name, Bernardino.  A good friend of mine who knows me in both the US as well as Costa Rica started calling me Scottino, which has become my “Rainbow” name, and is what many people at Rainbow Gatherings call me.  You can call me whatever you feel comfortable with.

I have been living here at Jardin Salverde, formerly known as Finca Salverde, for at least a few years now and love it.  I remember when it was just some abandoned pasture, secondary growth forest, and a bit of agriculture overgrown in weeds back in 2005.  Now there are hectares of food forests constantly attracting people from all over the world.  A couple different families are proposing to build some earthships and bamboo structures soon.  It is really a great feeling to grow all my own products and have enough to give away to all my neighbors, who have become some of my best friends and a second family.

I have planted millions of trees in just the past couple years and have gotten very fast and efficient at it, but since I am planning to leave this coming fall, people have been bringing them to me by the truckload!  If anyone out there has a tree planting job between Costa Rica and Seattle, let me know where I can lean my bicycle and take a break from pedaling north.  Perhaps we could even recruit some hippies from the Rainbow Caravaning alongside the bike trip.

The WWOOFing, HelpX, and Warmshower program may continue while I’m away if someone wants to become a host or manager.  Privileges include free rent and access to the entire farm, which has a wide variety of food growing and several onsite springs.  It could indefinitely sustain a few people accustomed to the Standard American Diet.  Responsibilities include giving orientations to new comers and sending me a status update once a month or so.  If no one suitable is found by September 2012, Finca Salverde will be closed to the public for up to two years and caretaken by neighbors.

I am really excited to see all the friends and family I grew up with, finish up my last quarter at Evergreen, and reconnect with my northwestern roots.  My dream is to come back to Finca Salverde as soon as I can find a boat to sail back down here on.